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I noticed my shampoo says בס״ד on the bottle. Is having it in the bathroom, etc., a problem? (My guess is no, or else they wouldn't put it on there, but still.)

Related: Dr. Bronner's soap

SAH
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  • You're thinking about this in the bathroom while you see this, perhaps, is more of a problem than the abbreviation, itself. Of course, I'm puzzled as to why manufacturers place this or similar abbreviations on their products. Aren't they concerned that it eventually goes into the trash? – DanF Mar 13 '18 at 14:17

2 Answers2

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R. Moshe Feinstein has a responsum about writing ב"ה in a letter. While he notes that it could potentially lead to issues because the ה is a letter of God's name and it is also meant to refer to God, he says that it is not a problem to write it in a letter because we don't have to be concerned with the far-off possibility that the letter will be desecrated. Towards the end of the responsum he discusses writing בס"ד or בעזהש"י instead of ב"ה and says that there there would not even be any potential for a problem because those do not even contain letters of God's name to begin with.

Igros Moshe Y.D. 2:138

במה שהרבה נוהגין במכתבי חול לכתוב למעלה ב"ה אם יש בזה מעלה כמו שחושבין הכותבים או אדרבה חשש איסו

ומה שהרבה נוהגין לכתוב בכל מכתבים שכותבין למעלה ב"ה שההא הוא אות מן השם הקדוש וגם הכוונה הוא להשי"ת ששמעתי שיש הסוברין שהוא איסור הנה אף שגם שהוא רק אות אחד שליכא בזה איסור מחיקה מ"מ מסתבר שלא גרע מהשני יודין שאסור למחוק שלא לצורך כדאיתא ביו"ד בסוף סימן ער"ו וכן אסור להשליך במקום בזיון מ"מ איני רואה בזה איסור במדינתנו מכיון שלא מצוי שימחקו ובמדינתנו לא מצוי כלל שיקחו ניר זה לקנוח בבית הכסא שיש נירות מיוחדות לכך ולהשליך במקום בזיון נמי לא מצוי כי רגילין לשרוף הנירות שאין נצרכין ואין לחוש לדבר שלא מצוי כלל אבל להקפיד דדוקא שיכתבו נמי איני רואה בדבר שלא הוזכר זה בדברי רבותינו ואיזה מעלה שייך לכתוב על מכתבי חול שהרבה פעמים כותבים שם דברי הבל וגם לפעמים דברים אסורים כלשון הרע וכדומה שיזכירו ע"ז ב"ה ואם כותב בס"ד אין שום קפידא לאסור אף באופן שיש לחוש למחיקה שלא לצורך ולהשתמש לדבר בזיון שאין בזה שום אות מהשם דלא שייך זה לאות ד' דמשם הנקרא דהכל יקראו זה בסייעתא דשמיא וכן אם יכתבו בעזהש"י נמי אין קפידא כלל כי השין מכיר שגם ההא אינו אות משם הקדוש אלא בשביל השין יקראו כו"ע בעזרת השם יתברך

ידידו מוקירו משה פיינשטיין

According to this, there should be no problem in your case.

Alex
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  • Reb Moshe writes in regards to a letter. But a shampoo bottle will be in the bathroom, most likely in the shower, where dirty, naked people will enter and use it. – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 00:25
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    @ezra The context of the responsum is a letter. But the point that I am bringing out is that unlike ב"ה which might have some level of kedusha, בס"ד has none. Even if we are now talking about a bathroom there should still be no problem. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 00:29
  • @Alex So what is their point here? I think I'm reading that even daled, while it doesn't need to put in sheimos, should stay out of "filthy" places אבל לא ישתמש בעיתון או במכתב שימוש של גנאי כגון לקנח בו טינופת. וכן הדין לגבי אותיות שבאו לסימן לשם השם, כגון כאשר כותבים שני יודים לסימן השם 'יי', או שכותבים אות ה' או אות ד' לסימן לשם השם, שאין באותיות אלו קדושה, ורק לבזותן ממש על ידי תשמיש מגונה אסור, אבל למוחקם או להניחם בפח כאשר הם חלק ממכתב או עיתון - מותר. זוהי דעת רוב הפוסקים." From https://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/1658#2b – SAH Mar 13 '18 at 02:53
  • Doesn't בעזהש"י also have a hay? – Double AA Mar 13 '18 at 03:00
  • @DoubleAA In researching this I read something about how the shin makes it clear that you're not implying the Havaya by the hey, but rather the word "Hashem," therefore it's okay – SAH Mar 13 '18 at 03:02
  • @DoubleAA Yes, and R. Moshe in the responsum explains why that ה is not an issue. I did not include it in the answer because the question was only about בס״ד. If you think this point is germane to the answer I can edit it in. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 03:03
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Why should there be a problem? בס''ד stands for בסייעתא דשמיא and doesn't contain any Holy Name. The translation of the phrase is "with Heaven's help".

Even in the case of ב''ה or בעז''ה, which have the letter ה representing G-d's Name, isn't this the reason we shorten the name to a letter (such as 'ה), in order to avoid desecrating it?

Conclusion: There shouldn't be a problem. The acronym does not contain a Holy Name, and therefore isn't sheimos. You can put it in the bathroom. Although I must say that putting בס''ד on a shampoo bottle is new to me. I've never heard of that being done before.

To say that 'ה has any holiness would be about as absurd as those people who write "H-shem". The word Hashem has absolutely no holiness that's why it was invented!

ezra
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    The Igros Moshe that I cited in my answer seems to indicate that even 'ה by itself could have holiness. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 00:27
  • @Alex Only because it stands for G-d's Name. But it for sure doesn't have the status of the Sheim Havayah. – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 00:30
  • True, but it still has holiness. If the question here would have been about 'ה instead of בס"ד, the answer according to R. Moshe would likely be different. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 00:33
  • @Alex I guess the question which remains is, "how much holiness does 'ה have"? Are there different "levels of holiness"? – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 00:34
  • He acknowledges different levels of holiness: 1) Forbidden to erase 2) Forbidden to erase for no need. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 00:36
  • @Alex And how does this relate to bringing it into an unclean place? (Not challenging, we're talking here) – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 00:38
  • He doesn't flesh out all the details in the reponsum, but the implication is that he only allows it to be written in a letter because it is unlikely for any form of desecration to occur to the letter, but actual desecration would still be forbidden. – Alex Mar 13 '18 at 00:44
  • @ezra I figured you were right, but think I have read some opinions that even daled has some measure of holiness when used for H's name. Also, there are those who are phenomenally strict about references to G-d in the bathroom: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/51022/1516 – SAH Mar 13 '18 at 02:13
  • @SAH How would ד have anything to do with G-d's Name? Simply by the fact that most tallis ataros have it there in the bracha? The ד was created to represent G-d's Name in order that you could use it in mundane situations. Saying it has kedusha is about as absurd as those people who write "H-shem". – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 03:38
  • well in this case it stands for Dishmaya. But I think it was the other one where I heard it has some possible kedusha, as seems to be affirmed by the site I linked in my comment to @Alex's answer. I have no idea what other than extreme piety--a good thing, but not without costs--would cause this fear. – SAH Mar 13 '18 at 03:45
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    @SAH I still find it incredibly odd in the first place that בס''ד was put on a shampoo bottle label. – ezra Mar 13 '18 at 03:46
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    @ezra I think this might be pretty common among products from Israel. I got some skin cream in Williamsburg that had it too, I think. – SAH Mar 13 '18 at 09:23